December 25 is associated with Christmas. But this year it meant the day I was going to embark on a vacation of a lifetime, a safari in the Masai Mara wildlife sanctuary. I had dreamt of this trip since I was a little girl watching National Geography with my dad. Today was the day I was going on one. We had booked the trip with Mario tours, who had promised to pick us up at 6.30 on the morning of December 25. Our driver, Wanzou, was ready to pick us at the promised time and we were ready too (having hardly slept the night before, it was easy to get ready on time). The sight of the land cruiser was enough to get our adrenaline rushing.
We started off on a long drive with a short break at the Rift valley (it was a beautiful sight at this time of the year with the rains) and then at Narok Town (our last township before we entered the Masai Mara) The next three hours of the road trip were the most tedious. With the rains having played havoc, the roads were in a bad state and the journey was back-breaking, to say the least. We entered the Mara conservancy, which is a part of the Masai Mara and is owned by the local community, Masais. The sight of a few wildebeest grazing was a pleasant surprise as most of them had crossed over to neighboring, Tanzania during the migration season. We were greeted by Thompson's Gazelles, Impalas, zebras, giraffes, and the kids were already in high spirits. The sight of four huge tuskers was the icing on the cake but the best was yet to come. A stray glance to the right and we witnessed a lioness on a chase. It was a small warthog who proved very quick for the lioness, but we were not complaining. We had not even entered Masai Mara and had witnessed this scene straight out of Nat Geo. The sight of the warthog running in full speed in front of our jeep even after the lioness was completely out of sight was a realization that what was fun for us was a matter of life and death for the little creature.
We pulled into Masai Mara Eden safari camp, around 2 in the afternoon with tired bodies and high spirits. A quick welcome drink, the beautiful sight of our tents facing the Mara river in all its glory and a hot vegetarian lunch later, we were all set to leave for our first game drive.
Wanzau was on the wireless and having received a tip, hurried off in a direction. We had no idea what lay in store for us. Some Impalas and Thompson's Gazelles running off at full speed was an indication of the presence of a predator. That is when we saw a leopard walking off into the bushes. Now, I know why the leopard is one of the big five (the others being the lion, Cape buffalo, rhino and the elephant).
Being true to his reputation of being a shy creature, he quickly hid behind a few bushes and refused to come out. After some wait, we gave up on him and drove away when Wanzau received another tip-off.
This time, it was the King of the Jungle and his consort. It was mating season and he was making the most of it. The sight of a fully grown wild lion in his prime is a sight to behold and removes any doubts as to why he is called the King. There was also another lion very close and we were able to get up close and personal.
These two encounters were the highlight of the day among the other sightings of ostriches and giraffes.
Having had a very fulfilling drive, we decided to call it a day. We retired to our tents and were ready at the dinner table where we were greeted by another lovely sight. The sight of a simple, hot Indian vegetarian dinner in the middle of the Jungle is pure pleasure. With the promise of another exciting day ahead of us, we sunk our tired bodies into our cozy beds and were soon asleep. We had no idea of what lay in store for us the next day and in hindsight, nothing could have prepared us for that.
Day 2 started early at 7 a.m. We had packed our breakfast to save time. It had rained the entire night and we noticed that the water levels in the river had risen. We had just started when Wanzou received the call about a lion sighting. When we reached we saw two lionesses resting. Then, a lion and a lioness walked in and we were spellbound, to say the least. There, in the presence of the lions, we had our breakfast. Having finished, we drove off from there and Wanzau received another call. This time, it was a distress call about a jeep from our camp being stuck in the mud. There is an unwritten law in the Jungle that every distress call should be answered. We reached the place to see a jeep with an American family of four stuck deep in the mud. Our driver rushed in to help only to realize minutes later than that our jeep was now stuck too. We were now at the mercy of another incoming jeep. The men in the vehicles alighted to help the drivers while we kept watching for any predator who may be lurking around. Two hours later, the two vehicles were now free. We drove off to catch up on lost time.
And believe it or not, we got stuck again. The rains had left the savanna muddy and the roads were very treacherous. A familiar jeep pulled in to help. We hitched a ride in a passing vehicle, which was headed to our camp. We were welcomed by a pet hippo grazing near the entrance of our camp and being aware of this hippo’s reputation of being aggressive, we kept a safe distance.
After a quick lunch, we set off again. We were eager to make up for our morning debacle and were not disappointed, to say the least. We were greeted by giraffes, cape buffalos, ostriches, dick dick (a very elusive small species of deer), mongooses, tortoise, silverback jackals (also called the black back jackals), kori bustard(the largest flight bird) numerous herds of Thompson’s Gazelles and impalas. We reached a part of the Mara river, which was one of the many places where wildebeest crossing takes place during the migration season. The sight of hippos wading in the Mara against the backdrop of the beautiful setting sun was surreal. A quick survey with the binoculars revealed another pleasant surprise. There were crocodiles on both sides of the river, basking in the sun with their mouths open wide. Wanzau informed us that crocodiles were very difficult to spot in the wild. Having feasted our eyes on the beautiful sight in front of us, we drove towards home.
Our two days in the Masai mara were up and it was time to pack our bags. With a heavy heart, we bid farewell to our camp staff, who had been most helpful and drove off. This time, Wanzou had a surprise for us. We would be having another game drive on our way out. My youngest one was a little sad at not having seen his favorite animal, the elephant. He was not disappointed. We encountered a huge herd of the gentle giants. Just when we thought we had ticked off all important animals on our list, we spotted some hyenas relaxing near our path. Being fully aware of the fact that wild hyenas are known to being shy, we were excited to see the scavengers. They couldn’t care less. We saw herds of Gazelles, Topis, impalas not to mention the countless species of birds. The Masai Mara, spread across 1500 square km, is home to around 4000 bird species besides numerous animals.
Just when we thought we had seen it all, we had another surprise in store for us. While crossing a makeshift bridge of rocks across a stream, our vehicle got stuck. A long queue of vehicles was soon lined up on either side of our jeep. We could not believe it. All of us got down from the jeep, while some men worked on freeing the jeep. Herds of sheep and cows passed us by and even in the midst of the situation, we could not help but be consumed by the simple beauty around us. We met a group of travelers who were on their annual trip to the Masai Mara. They informed us that they had been visiting every year for the past 20 years and that this was the wettest December they had seen in Kenya. Having freed the jeep, Wanzau joined us and we set off again. We prayed that the remainder of the trip is as uneventful as possible, and we were happy to pull into Nairobi without any further events and after a long 7-hour drive. As he bid farewell, Wanzou informed us that some of the Camps in the area were now shut as the water levels had risen again.
As we thanked the Lord for our safe trip and recalled the events of the past two days, we realized that everything that we had heard about the Masai Mara was actually true. It was an amazing wildlife experience of a lifetime where anything was possible. Having had one such experience, we were greedy for more. We made a silent promise to ourselves that we would go back one more time, this time in the migration season.
By Kavitha Iyer
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